Satires

Satires, collection of 16 satiric poems published at intervals in five separate books by Juvenal. Book One, containing Satires 1–5, was issued c. 100–110 ce; Book Two, with Satire 6, c. 115; Book Three, which comprises Satires 7–9, contains what must be a reference to Hadrian, who ruled from 117 to 138; Book Four, made up of Satires 10–12, contains no datable allusion; and Book Five, containing Satires 13–16, has two references to the year 127.

The Satires address two main themes: the corruption of society in the city of Rome and human brutality and folly. In the first Satire, Juvenal declares that vice, crime, and the misuse of wealth have reached such a peak that it is impossible not to write satire, but, since it is dangerous to attack powerful men in their lifetime, he will take his examples from the dead. In the second and ninth Satires, he derides male homosexuals. The third and fifth Satires deal with aspects of a life of dependency on patronage. The fourth Satire illustrates the Roman emperor Domitian’s pettiness. The sixth Satire, some 600 lines long, denounces Roman women. The poverty of Roman intellectuals is the subject of the seventh Satire, and the eighth attacks the cult of hereditary nobility. The 10th Satire examines human ambitions and recommends instead seeking “a sound mind in a sound body, and a brave heart.” Satire 11 points up the foolish extravagance of the wealthy. The 12th Satire distinguishes between true and mercenary friendship; the 13th is a variation on the same theme. In the 14th Juvenal denounces parents who teach their children avarice. The 15th Satire reports an appalling incident of human savagery. Satire 16, which introduces the subject of the privileges of professional soldiers, is a fragment.